


Physics or Chemistry?

by imaginedandreal



Category: Figure Skating RPF
Genre: (maybe only kind of), Angst with a Happy Ending, Crushes, F/M, Fluff, Requited Love, Romance, Smut, Soulmates, Timeline (also kind of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-20
Updated: 2019-10-20
Packaged: 2020-12-24 16:49:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,166
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21102752
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imaginedandreal/pseuds/imaginedandreal
Summary: All the stages of passion that progressed between Tessa and Scott and intertwined with their skating prowess - from a sweet little spark, to a blazing hot fire to a cozy, blissful hearth.





	Physics or Chemistry?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lapetitemort20](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lapetitemort20/gifts).

> My dear LPM!
> 
> SINCEREST apologies for wishing you a belated birthday! I was sick as a dog recently and that threw my fic writing out of whack. That said, I truly do hope you enjoy this one. It may be not much, but it’s from my heart. You’re a wonderful part of this fandom, and I and everyone love having you as a writer and friend💕💕💕
> 
> This is rather inspired by their timeline, and not following it exactly; I kind of just did whatever I wanted with the timeline??  
Jackie doesn’t exist in this universe (otherwise the fic would kinda be pointless lol),

Tessa was fourteen and a half when she realized that she’s curious about Scott.

Not as a friend.

Not curious about what ice cream flavor he likes, or his favorite movie, or anything similarly safe.

No, Tessa was curious as to how it would feel to kiss him.

(Her usually wild imagination didn’t have strong enough wings yet to carry her to subjects beyond kissing).

She was curious about kissing, yes. The thing that causes this curiosity was, as sometimes happens, a book.

She has read the first _ Princess Diaries _ , and one scene at the beginning made her pause. That was the one where Mia said she was both disgusted and intrigued by how “Josh shoved his tongue into Lana’s throat.” Mia confessed that, though the sight grossed her out, she wouldn’t be against that Josh guy kissing _ her _this way.

Tessa finished this scene and couldn’t continue on, for some reason.

_ Tongues! _

_ Throats! _

Her fingertips flew to her own neck, half-consciously. Her tongue and her throat, both ordinary body parts, suddenly become…no, not dirty, as much as…strange. Tessa realized that people employ their tongues and throats for completely different things than, for example, guzzling cold lemonade on hot summer days.

Did Scott think about it too?

No.

Not Scott. He couldn’t possibly have been thinking about such stupid things.

They had been starting to practice (only _ practice _) routines that their mothers called ‘suggestive’ (frowning concernedly), but the fourteen year-old girl and sixteen year-old boy didn’t even come close as of yet to any inappropriate moves involving their arms and legs. 

The budding sensuality on the ice didn’t count. 

That was Tessa’s reasoning. Logical and compartmentalizing, even at her age. 

She closed her eyes, a few minutes after closing the _ Princess Diaries _ volume. She then pictured Scott coming up to her, grasping her, and doing the tongue-shoving thing to _ her. _

It’s a pretty… aggressive and off-putting idea.

Her Scott? Jokes-cracking, wide-grinning, familiar Scott? Kissing her _ the grown-up way? _

She was too old to instinctively _ eww _ to herself, but she was still too young to like the idea, or think that it would be something she would hypothetically want. 

In Tessa’s mind, fourteen was still so childish, while Scott’s sixteen seemed quite on the brink of adulthood. What if he had known about these things for a long time now?

What if he already kissed another girl the same way? The way they did in the novels and movies? All hungry and half-crazed, a kaleidoscope of lips and tongue and teeth?

Now there was a little chorus of _ eww eww eww _in her mind.

What the hell?

The concept of Scott kissing _ another _ girl, no matter the grown-up way or just a little peck, grated on Tessa’s nerves. She was old enough to know what cheating is, and she thought, just like that, that Scott kissing someone else would be cheating. Kissing meant an emotional connection, and Tessa knew that it’s _ unfair _ for Scott to connect emotionally with someone who isn’t her. With all her teenage possessiveness, she was sure that Scott was _ hers. _Who cared if they are only skaters. After all, their comfortable, harmonious partnership as skaters could stand no third wheel. 

She was also old enough to remember the saying about company and crowd. 

So their little partnership was a sweet, safe haven - no thunderstorms, no turmoil.

The first little alarm bell that disrupted this peace is Junior Worlds in 2003.

Tessa remembered flying and bouncing boisterously together with Scott in their dance. She remembered smiling with pleasure the entire time, it was just that fun.

_ Final pose! They did it! Not that she doubted - _

Beat. Scott’s arms around her.

Beat. His quick breathing in her ear.

Beat. His lips grazing her neck (or her shoulder?) after he pressed his forehead there. Momentary and warm, like a tiny, painless sunburn.

Not her first kiss, not technically. By that point, though, they have already kissed each other’s cheeks enough to become naturally comfortable with the gesture. But for Scott to touch his lips to her _ neck... _Tessa felt what he did long after the mayhem of the competition is over. 

She didn’t address it, and neither did he. She did find herself questioning his motive. Was it just a spur of the moment thing, because he was happy about their number? Or did he like her _ like a boy likes a girl _? 

Tessa remembered, too, his childishly high-pitched voice in the phone speaker, telling her that they’d best not date anymore. He was nine and she was just over eight. She thought it was because his brothers teased him mercilessly, and he had enough. Not once had he even implied that the fault of the ‘breakup’ was hers, as it truly hadn’t been. And now, right before this Worlds, Suzanne, the coach, says they should focus on their footwork and sequences. 

Tessa only just miraculously managed not to trip on the ice, every time she recalled Scott’s lips touching her neck.

She knew three things.

She didn’t want Scott to kiss any other girl like that. What the hell, she didn’t want him to _ have _a girlfriend. She had no idea why. She just didn’t.

She will be fine with it if he kissed her again. Even just on the cheek, as before. But he more than often stammered and blushed (Scott can apparently blush?! And she hated herself for thinking it’s cute?!)

Not only did she not trip every time she was in Scott’s arms on the ice, she felt herself soar. Their footwork was flawlessly in sync. 

They reached newer and newer heights in competition, and finally, in 2006, qualified for Nationals in Ottawa. But they didn’t make it further than that.

The disappointment was blindingly sharp. 

She started crying in the locker room and didn’t stop until she and Scott were back in their apartment in Canton. 

He gazes at her for a long, long moment, like he knew he would be able to cure her bitter sadness by look alone. A flicker ignited in his hazel eyes.

“I know what’ll cheer you up,” he said, boyishly eager. “Let’s do it.”

Tessa nearly spit out her sip of water. Her heart hammered erratically. _ He can’t be serious. Is she that obviously lovesick? Can he be...reciprocating as well? Shut up, T. This is the wrongest moment of all to do it. _

“Um...I don’t know,” she stammered in reply. “I’m kind of not ready to take that step yet. Besides,” she pointed out, as her voice grew more steady, “I don’t want you to do _ that _with me out of sympathy.”

Scott blinked. His ears grew fire-truck red in a matter of moments, and she wanted to both laugh and kick herself for thinking that he looks unfairly adorable with blushing ears. 

“Actually...I was thinking of ordering takeout and watching _ Pride and Prejudice,” _he blurted, eyes shifty in a way that told her he was frantically trying to hide his embarrassment. “The Colin Firtson one,” he added quickly, then corrected himself. “Firth? The sexy guy you like. Colin Firth. Yeah.” 

Tessa gave a loud snorting chuckle at that, and he met it with a sheepish grin. 

“That sounds great. I’d love some Colin_ Firtson _ right about now,” she said teasingly. Scott frowned a bit, then.

“But what did you mean when you said...you didn’t want to do _ that _with me, T?” 

_ No. No. Nononononono. _

“I just…” she trailed off, feeling uncomfortable heat take over her face too. “Forget it. It’s nothing. Really. I’m fine. Let’s go order something, I’m famished,” she giggled pointedly, running over to find her wallet and knowing that Scott will fight her to pay himself. She hoped he got the hint and would not ask her about it anymore. He did. 

They did not talk about _ that _again. 

Phew.

Tessa knew it was for the better.

They had to focus on their technical skills. As ice dancers. 

She had to think of Scott as her platonic skating partner. Not as her cute, sweet, funny best friend.

It was for the better. For sure. 

In Canton, the only people to talk to were Meryl Davis and Charlie White. Neither Tessa nor Scott would say they befriended the American ice dancers, but the two skating couples got along well enough. 

Until Charlie decided to ask Tessa out, on a nondescript day in the spring of 2008.

Not even ask out. The boy hemmed and hawed and finally stammered out a question whether she would like to go for a beer with him. 

A beer. _ Tessa Virtue _. The very idea was ridiculous in Scott’s eyes.

Tessa? She agreed, and even smiled and Charlie. When Scott himself looked at the guy (damn him for remaining near Tessa to witness this shit), Charlie had the stupidest happy grin on his puppy face. 

Scott hadn’t seen anything yet. For now.

“Hey little bro, why are you mopin’ around?” Danny asked him over Skype. He had called his oldest brother while Tessa was in her room taking a shower. It was in the evening right after Charlie had asked her out for beer. 

“I’m fine, dude. Whatever,” Scott sulked, but his sigh and dejected mood wasn’t lost on his older and wiser brother. Danny’s smile turned unexpectedly kind and understanding.

“What I think is you aren’t fine, for one. For two, you aren’t fine because of a girl. Spill, Scotty.”

Scott scratched his temple, fidgeting in his spot. 

“Charlie White asked Tessa out. To have a goddamn _ beer _with him.”

“And you’re in a bad mood because this Charlie guy wants to go for a beer with her, or because he asked her out in the first place?” 

Scott startled. “Huh? Why would I be mad? Tessa’s a free person, she can go out with whoever she wants. It’s just, uh…”

_ He knows! How the hell does he know?! _

Danny gave him a skeptical look. “Alright, buddy. But hey - if this guy and Tess don’t click, you know you can try it yourself, eh?” he suggested.

Scott muttered an unenthusiastic goodbye, and they ended the call. He couldn’t shake the newfound, confusing feeling that Danny was right.

That Tessa somehow became more for him than just his trusty, good friend and skating partner. That she was suddenly so pretty, so sweet, so funny and kind and just...different. Fascinating.

Scott knew what he had to do.

That is why he entered the bar to where Charlie invited Tessa. Meryl was hanging on his arm, and he more or less tuned out her chatter and unsuccessful attempts to make him reciprocate her flirting.

“Aww, Scotty...why’d you take me to this bar? I hoped for something more romantic…” Meryl pouted her painted lips. Scott hardly listened, but answered anyway. He was too busy searching for Tessa and Charlie’s table. 

“Oh, they have really good chicken wings,” he replied, off the top of his head. “And there’s a game I want -”

The words died in his throat, as his eyes landed on Tessa.

She wore a soft pink top which complimented her light brown hair in a beautiful way. Her jeans were just snug enough to showcase the gentle curves of her waist and hips. Her understated make-up made her green eyes shine. She looked unsettlingly unlike his regular, well-known Tessa, his everyday partner. She was absolutely the loveliest girl Scott had ever laid his eyes on. Charlie, meanwhile, was practically staring into her mouth, grinning idiotically, looking more like a doting puppy by the minute.

Scott tugged on Meryl’s hand, coaxing her to a table right beside Tessa and Charlie’s.

“Let’s go sit there,” he said, and pulled out a chair for his date, though it was only out of ingrained manners and not out of his liking her particularly.

“Ooh, look, that’s Tessa and Charlie there! Hey, Tess! Hey, Chuck!” Meryl hollered, as soon as she saw her neighboring couple. “You guys here on a date? So are we! That’s so cool!”

Scott wished so much she would be quiet. As soon as Meryl happily announced that untruth, Tessa’s face visibly fell to the point that he felt dizzy with guilt. His initial plan to see whether she would be jealous of him and Meryl backfired, and he hated the dejected look that he glimpsed on Tessa’s face, until she rapidly masked it.

Tessa’s chair was right across from Scott’s, with little distance between them, due to the crowdedness of the tables in the bar. 

The waitress came up to take their orders, and Meryl promptly ordered a beer with her fake ID. Scott sensed that she wanted to play it cool so he’d like her more, but he couldn’t care less. The girl approached him now.

“And for you?”

Out of the corner of his eye, Scott saw Tessa glancing at him intently, half-listening to Charlie.

He picked up the laminated menu and distractedly stabbed his finger at it: this, this, and this. 

“Seasoned peanuts, a vodka cranberry, and a milkshake?” the waitress repeated, eyes wide. “Now that’s a creative combo. Okay, I’ll get everything in a pinch.”

Scott pretended to recline in his chair, evasively answering Meryl’s constant chatter. Then, he smelled a light but noticeable fragrance of strawberries, and realized that Tessa had leaned back and whispered to him.

“Scott…”  
“Yeah?”

Two ‘resident spies’ meeting in a public place. Their dates could see them but pretended like they couldn’t. Meryl and Charlie must have understood that they themselves were only coming along for the ride, so Tessa and Scott were able to talk. Or attempt to.

“What’s going on, Scott?”

“What do you mean? Nothing’s going on,” he said, confusedly. Or, maybe with less confusion than he let on. _ Maybe she was jealous...maybe... _

“Why are you here?” Tessa hissed. She might as well have been alone, Charlie forgotten. “You didn’t come here just because, did you? And why is _ Meryl _ with you?”

Scott shrugged. “I just love the milkshakes here. They’re _ so _ good,” he said, taking a huge slurp of the concoction. 

Tessa leaned in closer, and he almost choked, because...He hated himself abruptly. He was a whole twenty-one years old, too old to get fucking hard at the mere presence of a pretty girl, and then play mind games with her. Even if that girl was Tessa. _ Especially _ Tess, Tess with her soft curled hair, with her eyes, gorgeous in spite of their stunned expression, her sweet scent…

“By the way, Meryl wants to say hi,” he went on, and Tessa leaned away swiftly, clearly not eager to return that greeting. He had no idea why he began and kept up this stupid, juvenile game. Tessa didn’t deserve it. 

“Why don’t you tell her I said hi back. No difference to me.”

His reply turned cavalier. “Should we leave?” 

_ Shut up, Moir, just shut up! _

Tessa bristled. “Stop acting stupid! _ I’m _ definitely not! If you want to know, I agreed to go out…” she glanced at Charlie, who had meekly accepted her indifference, scrolling through his phone. “I went out with him just because I didn’t want to hurt his feelings!”

_ So you decided to hurt mine? _No shut up, you selfish dumbass, Scott scolded himself. 

“God, Tess, you drive me crazy…” he murmured, and Tessa gasped quietly. Sounding either scandalized or...or...no, he wouldn’t dare think of her this way. No matter what. He had to stop this. He didn’t know how.

The situation worsened when Madison Hubbell and Zach Donohue entered the same godforsaken bar, and promptly, Meryl and Charlie silently banded with them and all moved to a different group table. 

God, the two other couples would be irreplaceable in battleground, Scott thought, starting to get a headache from their loud, tipsy conversation. The enemy would be demoralized in seconds from their psychological attack.

“To friends! Wohoo!”

“To skating! Wohoo!”

Every spontaneous toast was accompanied by a copious swallowing of shots. Scott somehow found himself sitting side by side with Tessa. With an increasingly drunk, increasingly flirty Tessa.

“How’s your date going, Scottyyyy?” she purred, right in his ear. Who knew Tess’s sweet voice was so _ sultry? _He could feel even through his pants that her leg was bare and smooth - and that it kept rubbing against his under the table. Now, his headache was accompanied by an ache in less modest body parts. He hated it. He had no idea what to do. 

“T, slow down,” he tried to pry the shot glass from her hand. Was he talking about her drinking or her flirting?

“You look really good in that shirt,” she continued. She was pressed up against his shoulder at this point. Her fragrance echoed in his nose. And his groin, to his dismay.

_ Drunk words, sober thoughts? _

To that minute, he had wished he wouldn’t be looking like an idiot in his Leafs shirt, and they wouldn’t be at this table surrounded by idiots (save Tessa, obviously), and their conversation wouldn’t be idiotic, either. In fact, if they were alone, their gazes, hands, and lips would be busy with better things than looking around, gobbling up Italian pizza and washing it down with American beer. 

After her words, though, he perked up. Maybe his crush (he had a crush on Tessa freaking Virtue?!) wasn’t so hopeless after all. But then again, he couldn’t say if she was honest or just speaking from a cloud of alcohol.

The evening ended with Scott taking care of her later at home. And, as he tucked her into bed, she murmured, “I wish it was me you took on a date.”

He’d felt it even more sharply afterwards. His feelings for Tessa weren’t those of a brother and a sister anymore. His only weakening was during their Cherbourg performance. He had to kiss her, as was planned in the number. The only thing he let himself was to brush his lips against her tenderly. For only a moment. 

His strong liking for her, even if it was unrequited, gave him wings. Their performance made people quite literally cry. He saw it. Even the straight-laced Marina looked misty-eyed.

All thanks to this girl dancing with him, creating the beauty on the ice.

His T. His kiddo. His princess, the most beautiful girl in the world. 

In theory, ice dance was Tessa’s whole world. Scott’s whole world, in theory, was Tessa. And, Tessa and Scott started having problems. Because of ice dance, in theory…

He hid this newfound feelings for Tessa as best as he was able to. He hid them so well that he went and got himself a girlfriend. Jessica was cute, fun, and all the things that a guy his age wants, but she was no Tessa. Tessa with her bright green eyes and her loud, free laugh and her grace and resilience and talent was first in his heart. Ice dance itself was second, and Jessica was destined for around place number five and no higher. He was only with her to forget Tessa, as wrong of him as it was to both girls.

The breaking point was Tessa’s first compartment-syndrome diagnosis and surgery.

Scott had never seen anyone braver, stronger, more determined than Tessa. There was no speaking of being anywhere but at her side, after the procedure. His first impression was anger and disbelief, but he curbed that stinging emotion in order to give her his utmost support. Practice went to the far corner of his mind, in spite of Marina’s scolding about his lack of concentration.

He was there when she woke up from the drugs, groggy and teary and confused.

“Shh, T. I’m here, kiddo. It’s Scott, I’m right here,” he soothed, grasping her small hand into his larger one. And so was he, holding her when she cried, distracting her from the sadness with jokes later, as they talked. He could have taken her pain for her if he was able to, and he knew it as much as his own name. There was nothing he would not be able to do for her.

“So, how’s practice going?” she asked him, between sips of Tim’s hot chocolate that he brought her. He could see that she was making a huge effort to sound casual. He’d humor her.

“Eh, it’s been okay,” he told her, and it was the truth. She frowned at that, setting the cup of chocolate on the bedside table.

“Just okay? What happened?”

Scott knew she’d ask him that. “Nothing. It just feels weird without you. Hell, it feels _ wrong. _ Marina makes me skate holding bags full of sand. I’ve sucked with every single girl she suggested.”

He thought he saw blatant relief in Tessa’s face. Her eyes shed some of the sadness and pain there was before. “But Scott...you shouldn’t give up skating. Maybe you should try with another partner…”

She placed her other hand on top of where he held her first. Scott blinked incredulously.

“I won’t _ abandon _ you, Tess!”

“You wouldn’t be abandoning me, you’d just -”

“No, Tessa.” He cut her off. He had to persuade her that not only he wasn’t good at skating with anyone else,he didn’t like it and didn’t want to, at all.

“I don’t give a shit about the Olympics. I don’t give a shit about anything to do with skating if it’s without you. I’ve understood that for a while now.”

He stared into her eyes, now holding both her hands, willing her to believe him. Tessa’s eyes shimmered, and a single tear ran down her cheek.

“Can I hug you?” she whispered shakily. A hesitant smile appeared on her face. Scott felt himself grin in as much relief as she had shown before.

“Come here, kiddo.” He folded her into his embrace, just like they’d started doing before every performance. He felt her heart beating, heard her soft breath. He loved her in that moment, and comprehended it for the first time.

“What if I can’t skate anymore?” 

All her fears concentrated in that timid question. Scott squeezed her gently. He wanted to comfort her, to let her know that she was good, strong, and capable of anything.

“I know you will. I’ll be there with you.”

Tessa and Scott started referring to themselves as ‘we.’ They were so fully a team now. Equals doing what they loved. A harmony.

Their Olympic Mahler was the best skating they’d performed yet. Tessa was light as a feather in his arms, twirling the twizzles alongside him, against his back in the Goose. Scott performed his best because he loved. He loved her so much, and never more than there, on the ice, and never was he more grateful to be her partner. She was like an angel, like an ethereal being descended from the sky and into his ridiculously lucky life.

“Thank you so much,” he whispered, like a prayer of gratitude, holding her in the final pose. His breath and heartbeat echoed hers, cheeks pressed together. He could hear her smile in answer.

_ We got this, _ he thought zealously. _ Me and my T, we got this. _

His T was vibrating with anxiety by his side, but he shifted so he was nearer her, wrapped an arm around her back - though he leaned away, becoming restless himself, just before the scores announced the first place winner.

When it was announced, he went crazy. Whooped and jumped and waved his fists victoriously. Glanced down to see Tessa grinning at him, and he could have kissed her there and then. 

_ Later. Save it for later. _

He listened to the cautionary voice, but he was overjoyed enough without kissing her, instead pulling her into a hug so much happier than the previous ones. She laughed against his ear, sounding sniffly.

_ We did it, you and I. _

She wandered into his hotel room. Or he did into hers. It was unimportant. What mattered was they stood facing each other, holding hands, across a small distance. Then, smaller. Smaller. And even smaller still.

Scott wanted to laugh again, to cheer as he touched her lips with his. Her hands climbed up his waist, skimmed his shoulder, burrowed into his hair. She tasted like champagne, like vanilla, and like his sweet T. He never wanted to let go, to stop kissing her.

They found themselves falling into bed, laughing when Tessa landed first and had to spit her hair out of her face. Scott gently moved a strand off her cheek and stared into those green eyes, into the beloved eyes of this girl.

It was her first time as much as it was his. He knew it because they’d played Never Have I Ever surrounded by tipsy friends, and Tessa had confirmed she wasn’t lying. Yet, it would mean the world to him even if she’d been with a hundred more guys. All he cared about was that she trusted him with herself, with her body, not on the ice in a routine, but in a completely new way.

_ I trust you. _

_ I love you. _

_ And I trust you to love me. Right here in bed, and everywhere else with my heart. _

That was it. Simply what it came down to. Trust.

Just as she trusted him when his lips wandered down from her neck to the softness of her breast, and he explored its warm skin, until his mouth could wait no more and latched onto a hard little nipple, and sucked firmly, earning a long, husky groan. Trust as he glanced up to make sure that was a sound of pleasure, and heard “Don’t you stop,” while already sliding his hands around to give her pert ass a soft squeeze.

She was gazing into his eyes, waiting for him to keep doing what he did. They simply looked at each other for a few moments, while their bodies trembled and they still held each other, feeling the wave of nervousness and arousal wash through them both.

Just like they were before a performance. A cautious excitement that frightened and thrilled at once. 

Their private, beautifully intimate performance unfolded right now. They were in it just like in everything else: together. Where they trusted each other with their vulnerable state to be close like this, and to give each other not the pleasure of performance, of ice dance, but of love. 

Just like he trusted her teeth near his neck, because she nipped at him while his fingers started their ministrations inside her, and he half contemplated kissing her, as deeply as he could, so he would swallow the delirious sounds she made. But if he did kiss her, she wouldn’t give those little kisses and the gentlest small bites on his neck and collarbone and shoulder. He thought that he didn’t trust himself completely at this point, because _ he needed to be inside her so much, that every cell in his body seemed to ache for it _. If she, at any point, merely asked or made it clear any other way, he obviously would stop. But how hard it would be, pun wholly intended.

The crimson blush, combined with the ivory pallor of her skin, stained her with the most delicate rose pink shade. It was mesmerizing to look at, and dizzying to understand that his actions colored her neck and chest like that. 

She, meanwhile, trusted his implicit desire both to continue and to stop if she felt so inclined, but she wanted to continue. Thank all the possible gods and higher powers, she wanted all this as much as he. So, when his fingers beckoned her pleasure, with slowly increasing insistence, she shook harder, and arched deeper, and when she came, what rushed out of her lips wasn’t a moan or a curse word; it was _ Oh please, I need you in me. _

He obliged with the greatest enthusiasm. It was what he’d lusted for for years now, and finally, finally it happened. Now she was sharing herself with him. He loved her for it so much.

Lord, the years spent half-consciously saving himself for her were so, so, _ so _ worth every day.

She drifted off curled up against him.

When he woke up, she had an expression of regret that made him cold all over.

“I don’t think we should have...I didn’t want it to happen just because we won,” she murmured, looking guilty and apologetic, and he wanted to shout _ It happened because I love you and because I’m sure you love me too! _

She gently removed his arms when he made to hug her. “We shouldn’t, Scott. We need to focus on our skating.”

The fire within him sputtered frantically like a candle in the wind.

To him, it had seemed like such a logical conclusion to their joyful victory. Now, it crashed and burned. The worst thing was, it only made him love her more afterwards.

Moreover, he knew it was the same for her, if she didn’t speak it. The way she held and kissed him, and just simply looked him in the eyes like she could never look her fill. Nobody was able to pretend like that and be insincere. Scott knew it. But he was silent. So was Tessa.

For three years. Three years concealing their truth from each other. Three years from keeping the fire between them at bay and preventing it from roaring back to life.

Marina got it in her head that they needed to ‘ekzibit more passion, more...how to say...physical connection.” Simply put, Tessa and Scott needed to forget about playing a prince and a princess, two swans, and other stuff of rom-coms. 

They needed passion. Passion and sexuality on ice.

There had been so much between them already. Joy, friendship, humor, sadness, hardship, disappointment, difficulty, support, encouragement. There wasn’t really any passion, not even during their first and mutual time sleeping with each other. That had been a half-shy exploration of the other’s body. 

Marina didn’t let either of them think about what happened and did not happen further. Marina went on and on about the challenges of skating as Carmen and Don Jose. Tessa started to seriously think about that, too. As much as she liked it when Scott treated her with kid gloves, was gentle and affectionate, the thought of doing _ all that _with him in front of an audience, no less, made her prickle with all kinds of goosebumps. Not only on her arms and legs, either. 

Scott kept looking at her like she grew another pair of limbs or was some extraterrestrial creature, as they sat unwinding with wine on the couch at nightfall. 

“T...do you think you can handle playing Carmen? It’s pretty challenging.”

Just like that, she was _ incensed. _ Who did he think she is - shy little Tutu, his sister-like skating partner? She’ll show him Tutu, and she’ll show him innocence. The _ jerk _. 

“I can handle Carmen,” she replied, with a never-before heard, bedroom-voice purr. “But can you handle _ me? _”

Instantly, she snapped into this seductress headspace as easily as if it were on the ice. Her heart was hammering and her breath quickened. It had nothing to do with the two glasses of wine. It had everything to do with Scott looking at her like they are already having sex, his eyes the color of whiskey set on fire. That rocked her very self out of balance. But only for several seconds. 

“I can try,” he whispered, his voice raw with unidentifiable emotion. For once, outgoing and confident Scott Moir was lost for words, and she, soft-spoken Tessa Virtue, liked it. _ Loved _it. 

He didn’t ‘handle her’ - off the ice - until their final performance. Until he spilled all his teeming sexual, emotional, mental frustration in a desperate outcry, right at the beginning of the number. During, he was hyper-aware of her scent, of her warm skin and supple flesh flush against his body, of her quick breaths. He very well heard her gasp of bliss when he himself gasped against the most private part of her, during their lift, soon to become infamous.

Tessa said not a word until they were back in their hotel room. 

His mouth didn’t even have time to hang open when she got naked. More accurately, she ripped her own clothes off herself. The fishnet tights and her sexy performing dress crumpled into a black pile. She strode over to the armchair, sat on it like an empress on a throne. 

Scott stared at her. _ This _ was his Tessa? His gentle, sweet kiddo T? He wasn’t sure, but he was damn sure he loved this brand-new version of her. He stumbled towards her and fell right onto his knees before the armchair, unable to resist her invitation, and not wanting to, if he were honest.

Her cool fingers cupped his face, and she leaned in, watching him carefully.

“You look like such a good guy, with your wide _ eyes _ and your _ cross _ ,” she purred, thumb rubbing the hollow on the base of his throat. His mouth was drier than it ever has been, and his erection was painfully straining against his pants, as if sensing that her other devious palm was about to touch it.  
And it did. She hooked her finger inside his chain with the cross, and tugged lightly until his face came closer and her lips are just out of reach for a kiss. With the other hand, she cupped him through the pants, and gave a light squeeze.  
“I can be bad, but only for you...” he managed to breathe out, provoking her to grin like an extremely satisfied cat that captured a mouse.  
In a way of replying, she continued to stroke him gently, and then their lips were pressed together, and she wasted no time probing his mouth open and flicking her tongue to his. She kissed his groans of pleasure away, never taking her hand off his bulge. Shit, he was still half-dressed but he was absolutely on fire for her already.  
“Tess… please...” he whined. His hands reached around her hips and he flexed his palms over them.  
“Please what?” She gazed at him, innocent-eyed on purpose, but damn. She was now grinding onto him like nobody’s business, and her skin radiated the most seductive warmth as she pressed herself on him.

“I want you. No, oh God...I need you.” It’s almost like the more desperate he sounded, the more the effect pleased her.  
“‘Need’ is a little vague.” She lowered her head to kiss the side of his neck, which drove him crazier still. Her lips brushed the edge of his ear. “How about I take off these pants, and tie your greedy hands (here she gently slapped his hand away from her ass) to the bedpost, using my silkiest scarves? And how about I then suck you until you’re an absolute mess? Do you want me to do that?”  
His voice tried to form the words ‘hell yeah’ but he ended up uttering a needy groan.

“But first, you need to do something for me.”

He nearly gasped when she hooked her legs around the sides of the armchair. Exposing herself completely for him.

It was so explicit, and erotic, and goddamn infuriatingly arousing.

He’d had enough. So be it.

“You want it? You get it.”

He dove in without preamble, hardly giving her nipples a tug. He moaned, and so did she, when he began to lick and suck at her, to pleasure her with an unparalleled greedy hunger. She locked her legs around his neck, dug her fingers into his hair as he serviced her. 

He was killing her with a hundred beautiful tiny deaths, and resurrecting her, too. Her shout of a climax was a rebirth. 

Later, of course, there were the scarves, and the bed, and her perfect, wet mouth around him, as he grunted and groaned and finally shattered. He didn’t consider that the highlight of the night. The highlight was Tessa changing into his sweet, soft little flame, lying in his embrace. 

Sochi went and ruined that for them. The metallic aftertaste of the loss shocked them. 

Mutual arguments and accusations gathered until Tessa just walked away. 

“I can’t do it anymore.”

That had stung. Possibly more than the silver medals. 

Scott retreated to bars again. He tried to drown his sorrows, or at least, hide them. The beers piled up and his guard went down.

His legs brought him to Tessa’s house. He saw her walking towards there with Rob or Ryan or Riley or whatever the hell his name was. 

He wouldn’t remember the cause of the conflict later, just that the sight of Tessa acting so normal after all they faced swung him out of control. He would be blindingly ashamed of it afterwards. In the moment, he was blind angry. 

The guy was sneering. “What, you don’t like that she’s not yours anymore?”

Scott’s eyes darkened dangerously. The last restraints disappeared. He didn’t once consider the stupidity of brawling on a children’s playground. 

“Tessa’s _ mine!” _he roared, charging forward. The guy turned out to be a worthy opponent, as much as his mind’s voice insistently told him to submit to Tessa’s yells to stop. As her guy finally crumpled down on the February snow, Scott turned to Tessa. 

_ Thwack! _

His ears rang. He was sure that little stars circled his head, like he was a cartoon character that got slapped. 

“What the fuck is this bullshit? Are you preschoolers? Mine, no, mine! Who the fuck are you to decide that?” 

He sobered up in a flash. Tessa looked at him and her eyes were full of icy fury. As he stared at her in stunned confusion, she coldly informed the guy groaning on the ground that they were done. 

“And _ you…” _Scott grew afraid, so mercilessly angry her voice was. She might have been talking to an enemy. His T, who swore once in a blue moon. Shaking her head, she turned her back on him and walked into the apartment building. 

Scott stumbled backward, gathering a handful of the pristine fresh snow. Cooled his burning face, tried to soothe his inflamed conscience. Exhausted, lay back on the merry-go-round. 

“You’re jealous, Moir,” he murmured into the dark winter night. He pushed off the ground with his right foot, and the myriad of stars in the black sky spun in dizzying circles. “You’re jealous of that guy because he isn’t you. Because you’re not the one who gets to be with her.”

He sighed through the freezing air. He was completely alone with his turmoil. It hurt so much. More than disappointment and frustration, more than loss and failure and his stupid bruises, physical or emotional. Even more than Tessa’s arctic farewell glance. 

“God, and _ how _jealous you are!” 

He approached her the next day, having fiercely convinced himself to man up, sober up, and fix them. The fight had been a hell of a wake-up call.

Miraculously, Tessa agreed to talk to him.

“I’m so sorry, Tess. I swear, I was an asshole. I shouldn’t have dealt with all this the way I did. And I know…”

He gazed at her imploringly. Her jaw was set, but she would not hide her softened eyes. 

“We need help, Scott. We need to face this like a team. Like partners.”

“We will. I promise, Tess. I promise we will. I’ll do better. I’ll make this better.”

She gave him a crooked smile, and his heart thumped. “I shouldn’t have slapped you. Sorry.”

Scott knew, deep down, he did deserve it for being a drunken mess. He’d have presented her his other cheek, if it meant her smacking some sense into him. She was always the brains of the operation. 

“That’s okay. I needed to stop whatever I was doing.” He dared to look at her closely again. He was suddenly hit with the fact that he missed her terribly. 

“Do you still…”

_ Want to know me? Want to skate with me? Love me? _

Her answering smile was so true. So hopeful. He wanted to kiss her, but knew he should tread carefully now.

“Scott. I only ever want to skate with you. She shoved at his shoulder. “Even if you’re acting stupid.”

Bursting into laughter, and her grin, was the best thing that happened to him after Sochi’s disappointments. 

The spotted, smudged mirror on the closet door shamelessly reflected her naked back. Her spine undulated with every thrust; her hair dripped dark oil down her shoulders, past her waist, almost to her hips. It did for him what the edgiest, trendiest bob cut never did. It drove him mad, that silky waterfall. He decided that gazing at the reflection of her bare back and hair was safer than the risk of drowning in her green eyes. 

Both were quiet at the moment they came. No words, no sounds could express everything.

Later. They will talk later. 

She folded in on herself like a flower falling asleep. He caressed her hair and still felt lucky. Lucky that they were not lost to the world and to each other.

“That’s what you tell yourself,” she said. 

That was in Beijing. Scott wanted them to go back to the way they were. Happy. Successful. Victorious. 

The idea came to him as naturally as skating.

“We should do 2018.”

Tessa frowned. “That wasn’t a funny joke.” She sat up and against the headboard. Away from his embrace. 

“I’m serious.”

A dubious look from her. “You think?”

The long-forgotten flicker in his chest sprang back up. 

Shooting their comeback announcement was an unexpected challenge. 

Holding Tessa again, almost tasting the promise of soaring across the ice with her again, was intoxicating. He felt delirious with happiness and with rediscovered yearning.

Tessa was the same, if her gentle caresses of his arms and her heavy breath on his face was any indication. He’d almost dropped her right then.

Oh, this was fun. This was _ them. _

He strolled up to her casually, when the shoot ended. 

“Thanks for this great shoot, T. Wanna go by my house really quick? There’s something about practice I wanted to show you. Ten minutes tops, honest.” 

“Are you serious? Wham bam thank you, Tess?” She exposed a sharp talon of sarcasm. Her face got so close he could have counted her eyelashes. He refrained from planting his mouth on hers. He let the fire sit until they were in privacy. In his car, at the very least. 

“I’m serious. Wham bam. And later, hot chocolate.”

In the car, Scott’s hand on her knee was the most achingly tender touch. The sensation seeped up, up, up her leg, throughout her body, warming her up like the snug twining of ivy - not to suffocate, but to embrace. 

She smiled despite herself. She was ready for anything at this time in her life. 

“You sure know what a girl needs, Scott Moir.”

She leaned to him first, crushing her lips to his in a kiss both homecoming and reacquainting. He bunched up her hair into a fist, like fragrant flowers. Not to hurt, not to pull. Just to have her. To hold her. 

With twin clicks, their seatbelts were off and she was in his lap. Neither took their clothes completely off.  
Later, the car had a subtle scent. It smelled like her. Him. Them. He hung a little pine tree from the rearview mirror, so it was masked at least a bit. Too bad the aroma of that thing reminded her of the aftershave he used sometimes.  
She pounced on him again in the backseat that very evening. The car just smelled like sex and pine trees after that. He vacuumed and wiped it down with an embarrassing erection from the memory and felt like a complete moron.

On the phone with Danny, he didn’t even have to say a word. His brother got the hang of it right away. 

“Scotty, _ tell _her that you love her, buddy, for God’s sake! A woman deserves to know that she’s loved!” 

Scott sighed.

“Enough of that. I’m going to act the way I feel.”

“There might be no perfect moment.”

“Well, I’m gonna find one.”

He held her, full of determination and hope and pride. She held onto him, reflecting it all. 

That was their moment. The biggest one.

_ Let us have this. If we don’t, there’s no justice in the world. _

“Just us,” came the gentle voice in his ear. 

“For you, for me,” he replied, a smile tugging his lips. _ His Tess. _ He thanked everyone responsible for this for bringing him to that.

The performance was vibrant. Nothing before, not Umbrellas or Mahler or even Carmen could surpass it. It was a triumph and a celebration of love. The twizzles were works of art, the lifts paragons of symmetry and beauty. 

“I love you,” Scott sang, on cue. Tessa’s smile in reply was a message of love. 

Quite simply, he knew he would never hear it back from her but always know that she loved him. Because of this, of what they created, and the love that was created of their livelihood. 

_ “I love you so much.” _

Laced through the words was Tessa’s laughing cry, a sound to surpass the roaring crowd and the applause and booming announcements. 

Scott grasped her, deliriously happy, the realization that he’d been twice rewarded making him soar. 

“I love you too, T,” he choked out, holding her with all he was worth. 

On the podium, he kissed her with his eyes.

_ I will make you this happy for as long as we both will live. _

Alone together, the first thing Scott did was kiss her soundly. Tessa giggled against his lips, the sound reverberating in his heart.

He dreamed of this for the longest time, of her stretching around him to fit him. Being as accommodating with his body as she always was with his antics and complexities and flaws in life. He’d yearned for it since the last time, not recalling when that was, but not caring. _This _was the most significant time. 

He knew he probably didn’t deserve her, so selflessly sharing herself with him. He vowed, silently but fiercely, that, starting this very moment, he will do more, do better, _ be _ better, be and do his absolute best for this woman. This remarkable, one-of-a-kind woman in his arms. He wanted her not only in his arms, but in his life. Forever and no matter what. 

He didn’t expect that she would be hypnotically snug, drawing him in, deeper, further, with every thrust. It was amazing, delightful agony, and he would have told her every secret, twisted himself inside out if she asked, just so she wouldn’t stop moving. 

It was not scorching, but a healing fire. 

“Oh, _ Tessa. _ Holy shit, you feel incredible. You _ are _ incredible, babe,” he groaned, bucking up into her. That forced her look down and lock eyes with him. His were naked with adoration, with awe. Pretty much with worship, and it made her entire body shudder the way even his thrusts couldn't;. His hands were so tender on her waist that she wanted to cry for a ridiculous second.

All his life, he’d called her T, and Tess, and kiddo. She herself had said that hearing someone address her by her full first name sounded like the person was mad at her.

Scott wasn’t saying any of that, however. _ Tessa _slipped out of his mouth like a sacred vow. Like an affirmation of love.

Their mutual bliss wasn’t just physical pleasure, but the strengthening of their emotional bond. 

“Promise me you’ll always be here?” she asked, ruffling his hair while his head rested on her breastbone. 

His arms around her tightened. Safe. Secure.

“I always will, T. Don’t want anything in this life but you.” 

The Thank You Canada tour passed like one happy blur. They were planning their wedding at the same time. Twitter and Google went nuts for them. 

Tessa and Scott laughed, danced together randomly, explored Europe, made love and plans for the future. There was no more anxiety, no more disappointment and colossal pressure. 

There were just them two. Living the best life there was.

“I think we all wondered if it was your talent and technical skill, or your passion and chemistry, that made you so incredibly successful?” the too-nosy-for-everyone’s-liking journalist asked. 

They both giggled and gave vague answers. They answered truthfully and honestly only later at night, to each other, both snuggled in each other’s arms.

“What do you think it was, kiddo?” Scott asked Tessa. She smiled. Leaned over to kiss his shoulder.

“Just us,” she said simply. He beamed down at her, nudging her nose playfully, as his palm stroked her waist. That was how they drifted off, to the soft crackle of the fireplace, into the new first morning of their incredible, fulfilling, rewarding life.

**Author's Note:**

> None of this would be possible without the help and advice of the wonderful beta that is @PurpleHazeGirl!!! I absolutely appreciate all you have done for me. Thank you so much!


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